hello. you're watching "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm the david eades. our top stories, one city falls silent, another flares into fighting once again. such is the cease-fire in eastern ukraine. rebels in debaltseve celebrate after ukrainian forces pull out. the latest reports point to mortar attacks on the edge of mariupol. greece asks for a six-month extension to its bailout loan, but what would be the terms and conditions attached? it's a rousing reception as

china rings in the year of the sheep. also aaron will be with us. the greek debt deal. it is a deal this time. >> it looks like the greeks blinked first. athens has formally requested an extension to its current eurozone loan agreement. remember, that's the one that's linked to all those austerity measures. so it could mean greece has offered major concessions to avoid running out of cash. oh and to overcome the big resistance led by the germans. it's midday here in london 7:00 a.m. in washington 2:00 p.m. in ukraine's capital, kiev where the ukrainian president has said there's been an agreement to allow full access for international monitors into war-torn eastern ukraine. in a phone conversation with the leaders of france, germany, and

russia president poroshenko demanded the release of all ukrainians taken prisoner by pro-russia rebels. all four leaders denounced violations of the cease-fire and they also called for the truce to be sustained. well, the news follows the fall of the strategic eastern town of debaltseve to pro-russian rebels. the rebel advance into the town this is the town which links the strongholds of luhansk and donetsk by rail, came in spite of the cease-fire agreement, which was reached by leaders in minsk last week. we've had pictures coming into us here at bbc world news of the separatists, celebrating at the departure of ukrainian forces. the battle for debaltseve, if i can put it that way, taking weeks. that flag being the flag of the utopian russia flag flying on the trucks of the rebels, as they celebrate what they see as a major strategic victory in the fight against the forces of

president poroshenko. okay. let's get the latest on the situation in ukraine over the course of the last few hours. nick chiles has this for us. >> reporter: a moment to savor for pro-russian rebels. the long -- a moment to savor for pro-russian rebels. long, crucial battle for the key town of debaltseve is over and they've won. and ukrainian government troops just happy to have escaped alive after their withdrawal from debaltseve. i can't find the words to tell you how happy i am that we finally got out of there, he says. i'm so thankful to god that my guys, most of them are alive. this soldier says we didn't eat for five days and we didn't drink any water. nothing. we are hungry and cold. everything i have on me that's all that is left. but what now after the battle of

debaltseve? will the fighting finally quiet down and the cease-fire really take hold or will the two sides just regroup to renew the conflict? the leaders of ukraine, russia germany, and france have spoken by phone. they've denounced violations of the truce and renewed calls for its implementation. but it can't have been an easy call. the ukrainian president has insisted that withdrawal was organized, but no doubt under new pressure over the fact and manner of the pullout, he's come up with a new proposal. >> translator: today i want to raise the question of inviting to ukraine a peace mission of the united nations, that should work according to the mandate of the u.s. security council. >> reporter: from the heartland of the pro-russian rebellion in donetsk, the deputy defense minister of the self-proclaimed donetsk people's republic says they're not against the idea of peacekeepers amid reports of new shelling around the city and new expressions of concern about the

potential wider fallout from this conflict. britain's defense secretary has said he's worried about russian president vladimir putin, about his pressure on the battle icsltics and the way he's pressurizeing crimea. nato has been bolstering its presence in the baltic states to reassure them as the alliance tries to get to grips with what kind of relationship it can have with moscow now. and in ukraine, this was always going to be a fragile uncertain cease-fire at best. after debaltseve its prospects remain as unclear as ever. nick chiles bbc news. >> well let's look at those prospects. joining us on it will line from kiev is the adviser to the ukrainian prime minister. thanks very much for joining us. i just wonder, with the events

in debaltseve obviously, not good news from your side of the fence at all, but do you believe, do you think genuinely there's a chance that the cease-fire may take a proper shape now? >> i'm really blessed to join you. let me say that we all, europeans right now, are under attack. this is our major goal common goal to make everything more stable piecefirecease-fire and to witness peace over there. of course, we witnessed very tragic developments and this is a clear violation of russia by minsk. so there is a clear task of the president and the cabinet sees that the clear task to go ahead with -- >> uh i think, i'm afraid on that note we have lost him, unfortunately. that's the way it is. we'll see if we can get him back for you, as we see those pictures once again of rebels in

debaltseve, celebrating the departure of the ukrainian forces. as i say we'll see if we can get him back again. in the meantime we'll move on to some other news for you here on "gmt." that takes us to greece which has formally asked the european union for a loan extension, following weeks of disagreement of course, over its $270 billion international bailout. now, the country's new left-wing government is seeking a six-month assistance package, rather than a renewal of the existing deal, which comes with pretty tough austerity conditions, as we know. now, greece is likely to run out of money, possibly by the end of the month, unless a compromise is reached. mark lowen is in athens for us. mark, i suppose the devil, as always, will be in the detail. but what is this six-month extension request amount to? >> reporter: well, david, it basically means an extension of the current loan agreement with the eurozone but it leaves some

room to maneuver to discuss some of the harder conditions associated with the bailout program. let me just give you the main points of the letter that was sent by the greek finance minister to his dutch counterpart, who was head of the eurozone finance ministers, which we've seen here. it talks about an extension of the loan. it says greece will not undertake any unilateral action to jeopardize financial stability. it says greece accepts supervision by the european union and european central bank which is a climb down because previously, greece had said it will never, ever be supervised anymore by technocrats from the institution. but it leaves the door open talking about a possible new contract for recovery and growth and possible further debt measures. so what this amounts to david, is a kind of face-saving mechanism for the greek government to say, look we will continue with our loans, we'll continue with most of the conditions, we will want to be able to discuss more conditions with you and the conditions we don't really like and we'll be

able to sell it to our own voters, because we don't talk about the word "bailout," which they despise and we despise. >> mark that's very helpful for laying out the ground. we'll cover this in greater depth in business with aaron a little bit later in the program as well. more on greece still to come. as for other news around the world, libya has asked the u.n. to lift the arms embargo on the country to help address the worsening security situation. the libyan foreign minister said such a move would help the government to build its army so that it could tackle islamic state and other militant groups. he was supported by egypt, who said the international community needed to help libya after i.s. militants beheaded a group of egyptian hostages. the afghan taliban has confirmed it will hold preliminary talks with representatives from the united states in qatar on thursday. there have been several failed attempts at dialogue in recent years. the afghan taliban opened an office in taliban in june of 2013 by that shut a month

later, after causing outrage for setting up an unofficial embassy there. robert van winkle better known as the rapper vanilla ice, has been released from custody after he was arrested over accusations of breaking into and stealing from an abandoned florida home. the 47-year-old says it has been a misunderstanding and it will all be cleared up. his words. okay. well i'm pleased to say that we have managed to reestablish our link not on the greek debt crisis, but on the ukrainian crisis as danny, adviser to the ukrainian prime minister is back on the line. thanks very much for joining us once again. i need to ask you about the prospect, you think, of u.n. or eu peacekeepers ever getting into ukraine to monitor the bordering, whether it's the russian border or the east

ukraine dividing line if i can call it that. do you think it can happen? >> i believe that first of all, that we witnessed a clear violation of russia by the minsk agreement. >> you have already told us that much. i want to know what prospect you think there is for the sort of step forward in terms of bringing in the u.n. or eu peacekeepers? >> of course it's very difficult to assess what further steps could be done but make sure the goal of everything that we have to do we europeans, what we have to do to ensure peace here and i think that u.n. peacekeepers all of them mission for the european union to assure appeasing this part of ukraine is an option and it will defy it to request the u.n. peacekeeping mission to take the decision by the united nations security. that's why our president holds his talks with other european

leaders and we are grateful for the very strong position of the british government as well in this respect. so we have to show that and over president putin. >> right. i can only imagine when the commander in chief has to talk about the withdrawal of his troops from a town which is he believes, part of his own country, of course and constitutionally, certainly, is part of his own country. that's after difficult and somewhat hue millmiliating position to be in, which must have an effect on western ukraine, in particular. what is the sense of anxiety about bringing this conflict to a close now. it is mounting? >> i think that it's a reasonable decision. i do believe that, and this is absolutely clear. that everything was done to ensure peace over there. and, of course this decision was aimed at saving human life

because human life means a lot for the ukrainian president and the ukrainian government. that's why i don't think the situation is humiliating, but the situation is dangerous. and this is a clear threat that comes from moscow. >> danny, thanks very much indeed. and thanks for bearing with us for the problems on the line. we're going to be speaking to russia's ambassador to the eu a little bit later in the program, so do stay with us there to get his response to the situation there. now, the man who was pushed off a metro train in paris by a group of chelsea football fans they were chanting about being racist, says they must be found and they must be punished. the man was of mauritanian extraction. he's been thamnamed asuleman f. and he told a newspaper that he planned to complain to police.

that has prompted widespread condemnation. the chelsea supporters were in paris for the team's champion league match. and we can get the latest from hugh schofield. i guess, really what we would like to know is what more suleman s. actually had to say about this whole affair. >> well indeed. and we at the bbc are trying to find -- he's being very discreet. he was tracked down yesterday and i understand he doesn't want to give more interviews which is quite understandable. but in this interview, he gives his version of events and if you've seen the video, you'll have seen that the gentleman tries in a very dignified, but quite forceful way, to get back on the train several times. clearly bewildered but refusing to budge. and every time he's pushed back. so suleman in these accounts says, yeah this is what happened. for him, it lasted several minutes. he lost his phone in the

scuffles. he didn't understand what the fans were saying, because he doesn't speak english, but he could tell straight away that they were picking on him because of the color of his skin. and eventually the train moved on and he got the next train and went home. and then says he never told his family he's married with three children, he never told them because as he said to the paper, what could i have said that i was pushed around because of the color of my skin? and in fact he didn't know that he was being filmed at all until they managed to track him down. and then when he realized that this had gone viral and there was this evidence out there in the form of the video, he said now maybe i will go to the police and lodge a more formal complaint. so he comes across as someone who, well he says he has come across racism before so he wasn't entirely surprised, but he's never expected to see something as blatant as this on the metro. >> it's extraordinary to see the pictures himself. hugh, thanks very much indeed.

and thank you for being with us here on bbc world news. still to come here on "gmt," how would you like your mobile phone to look? well, we'll hear which companies are suggesting that you should have a choice and those who oppose the idea. i've been called a control freak... i like to think of myself as more of a control... enthusiast. mmm, a perfect 177-degrees. and that's why this road warrior rents from national. i can bypass the counter and go straight to my car. and i don't have to talk to any humans, unless i want to. and i don't.

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a question for you now. how much control should you have over what your smartphone looks like? well, we know there's a whole variety of cases available for every model, but should you be able to customize the phone itself? now, here with that deeply philosophical question has kicked off a bit of a spat between motorola and apple's design guru. so how did this come about? >> what happened is earlier this week "the new yorker" published a huge profile of johnny ives

within that article, he had pretty harsh words to make about a rival's scheme, the scheme -- >> "a rival," he didn't actually mention motorola? >> no he asked for that company not to be named, but reading between the lines, it seemed to be pretty clear this was motorola's moto maker skin. a scheme where you can go online and design your phone, what trims, what color, whether it's leather, whether it looks like it has a wooden back and so forth. >> and he says what exactly? why is he so snippy about the idea? >> i'll read you the quote, if i can. he said, referring to the other company, their value proposition would make it whatever you want. you can choose whatever color you want and i believe that's abdicating your responsibility as the designer. >> darling. >> it seems like a really good idea. ultimately is this a battle about a product that seems to be doing rather well and he doesn't like the look of or is he just

having a bit of fun? >> i think this is the idea about what your job is as a designer, your responsibilities and then when we put this quote to motorola's president, he's insulted. we have a very different philosophy to apple. we think that customers should be involved in the complete design process and don't see it as such a bad thing. and the president of motorola counter attacked against apple, calling their prices outrageous >> many people would agree with that as well. ultimately, how is motorola doing, briefly? is it working, this sort of product line? >> well motorola was recently taken over by china's limobo and they're the third best selling in the world. and motorola has done pretty well with its low-cost phones especially in countries like india and the like. they've really boosted its placing. >> they certainly got good publicity out of that. and i guess that would be a benefit, ultimately, to both sides, is it? just keep the name in the frame? >> i don't think any of them are

complaining. i wonder whether, though some of the headlines that have come out of the back of this would not be what apple would like. >> leo, thank you very much, indeed. i love that quote. what is it abdicating your responsibility as the designer. i'm going to remember that for my editors upstairs at various points in times. leo, thanks a lot. right now jeb bush is the son of one former u.s. president, he's the brother of another, he also insists he's very much his own man. which is important when you're hoping to be the republican candidate for the u.s. presidency in 2016 as it appears jeb looks to be. >> reporter: jeb bush isn't yesterday a candidate for the presidency, but it's sure beginning to look and feel like he will be. the money's pouring in and today he was setting out his foreign policy ideas. america, he said had lost the confidence of its friendses and no longer inspired fear in her enemies. and one other thing he had to address. his family name. >> i love my brother. i love my dad.

i actually love my mother as well. hope that's okay. and i admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions that they had to make but i'm my own man, and my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences. >> reporter: but a study by "the washington post" found that of the 21 people now advising him on foreign policy, 19 had worked for either his father or brother or both. when george h.w. bush became president in 1988 he was the 41st president of the united states. his son, george w. was the 43rd. and if jeb were to become president, he would become the 45th. then it would seem that every other president has to be a bush. >> reporter: jeb bush would be the republican establishment candidate if he won the nomination and the right will be determined to stop him in his tracks. but if he did, and it's a big but, the most likely democratic

candidate he'd be facing would be hillary clinton. and then it would begin to seem that in the land of opportunity, with its population of 320 million people that anyone can become president. oh as long as your name is either clinton or bush. john sopel, bbc news washington. right now some lovely pictures for you coming up. countries across asia are beginning their lunar new year celebration. it's time to welcome in the year of the sheep or the goat. well, in china, hundreds or millions traveled home in what's the greatest human migration on the face of the planet. and our beijing correspondent, martin martin martin patience has been a traditional temple fair where the traditions are already underway. >> reporter: even by chinese standards, it's incredibly busy here and there's a fair amount of barging going on. if you're not one for crowds this is certainly not the place to be. now, traditionally families

gather at temple fairs to mark the start of the new year. an event like this one are happening right across the country. one of the most common wishes is for a prosperous new year. these were once religious events where people would also pray for a good harvest, but there's not much of that here. commercialization has set in and everyone is trying their luck. for some here a good start to the new year means winwinning a couple of games. >> translator: i hope we can pay off our mortgage sooner. that's the most important thing. >> translator: i want the country to be prosperous and peaceful. there are four generations of my family and i hope everyone remains healthy. >> i hope and pray i can find a

wife this year. that's my biggest wish. i came here because there are loads of people and it's a great atmosphere. >> reporter: for the chinese, the celebrations are the same every year but there's a debate this year is this the year of the sheep, the goat, or the ram? >> reporter: the problem is the chinese character could be all three of them. in china, it's not a concern. so it's just a case of taking your pick. martin patientss, bbc news beijing. coming up in the next half hour on "gmt," well huge protests you can see here. this is argentina. they're demanding answers over the death of a state prosecutor. we'll have more on that for you. also we understand president poroshenko of ukraine is due to deliver a news conference. if that takes place during our time, we'll bring it straight to you, but you'll get it here on bbc world news in any case. this follows the fall of

debaltseve. and we're going to be speaking to russia's ambassador to the european union about the state of affairs in debaltseve and elsewhere in eastern ukraine and also about those calls for u.n. and eu peacekeepers to be landed to the country. that's all coming up on "gmt." stay with us.

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welcome to "gmt" on bbc brks krrksc world news. i'm david eades. this half hour fears in italy that jihadists could be hiding amongs the thousands of migrants crossing the mediterranean. they've trodden the ukrainian flag in the mud of debaltseve. how much do separatist have russia to thank? we'll be asking the russian ambassador to the eu. also on the program, aaron's back, having a look at the business of british music. >> and david take a listen to this. ♪ >> wonderful adel.

one of the british artists who hope to make the british music. now they want to get in on the act to boost the british economy. >> the italian government has warned, it cannot cope with the number of migrants crossing the mediterranean from north africa. some italian officials are worried that jihadists could be hide among those who set off from libya. you know only 66,000 of the 170,000 migrants who arrived in italy last year have actually been registered by asylum centers. emma jane kirby has this report. >> reporter: rescued at sea and waiting for a new life to begin. these migrants have all registered asylum claims in italy. but others want to live

elsewhere in europe. you won't see their faces in this reception center because they've already checked out. >> some of them disappeared. but most of them disappear. most of them. the majority. >> reporter: this isn't the prison. the migrants here at this reception center are free to come and go as they please. the only problem is many of them do just go. and every day brings fresh arrivals. the exhausted staff have no time to police who's coming and who's going. >> it's our duty. our duty isn't to give them the support and give them warm food a warm bed, something like that. and try to help them as well as we can. >> reporter: where the migrants end up isn't the only concern. the italian authorities worry about where they're from. most set off from libya, a power base of the so-called islamic

state. there are fears that jihadists could be hidden among the might rapt migrants. >> many, a slight minority could be involved in criminal activities or maybe in terrorists. we have to take them on board and we have to consider that as potentially a current or future threat. >> reporter: the migrants are supposed to have their names and fingerprints taken as soon as they disembark. but many just race here to the train station, where they buy tickets to head north. the eu's passport-free schengen zone means no one stops them with borders. local politicians fear that could be asking for trouble and want the schengen system overhauled. overhauled. >> it's a real danger, because this illegal immigration is

uncontrolled. we don't know who could be hidden in the boats. no one's registered so it's very dangerous to have these unidentified migrants wandering freely through sicily italy, and europe. >> reporter: slipping out for a walk or slipping out of the system. would anyone notice if they didn't come back? emma jane kirby, bbc news sicily. hundreds of thousands of people in argentina have been marching through buenos aires to demand answers over the death of a state prosecutor. just a month ago, alberto nisman's body was found with a gunshot wound to the head just hours before he was due in congress to present evidence against president kirchner. >> reporter: they turned up in the thousands, mainly middle class argentines led by colleagues and friends of alberto misnan. the prosecutor a whose death a

monthing a exposed deep divisions in this society. when the heavens opened with the heaviest rain buenos aires has seen for months their spirits weren't dampened. their march issue across the capital went ahead as planned. despite the torrential rain there are still tens of thousands of people out on the streets of buenos aires tonight, shouting in spanish, "let it rain let it rain, we are not going away." the destination, the presidential palace and their target a government accused of politicizing a new judiciary and of interfering with the investigation into the 1994 bombing of a jewish cultural center, in which 85 people were killed.

argentina's president is having none of it. before her own fanatical supporters cristina fernandez kirschner mocked the protesters. yes, this is a difficult period says government minister fernandez, but this prosecutor made allegations against theth of the nation that had no basis whatsoever. but it's the president's own confrontational response to the crisis that's got argentines talking, especially those accused of plotting against her. >> cristina considers everything is a conspiracy against her. due to that she says that everybody, she doesn't know who, wants to oust her from power.

>> reporter: on a dreadful night, 400,000 people came out to remember a dead prosecutor who dared to challenge the government. a powerful message to an embattled president. okay time for more business. aaron is with us. aaron, the greek debt deal or at least we understand, a request, at least, going in but may not be as straight forward as we were thinking? >> no. we thought greece had blinked first, but for the germans, maybe they haven't blinked enough. i have some news hot off the press. hello, there. you've been hearing about it on the program, we've been talking about it today, that finally athens had this formal put forward, a formal request for a six-month extension on its current loan agreement. remember, that's the one that still comes with all those, well, the measures that have to come, the austerity measures that doesn't mean that the financial institutions or the european central bank the international monetary fund still have to well they get to supervise athens.

that's something that we know that the greek finance minister and the new prime minister didn't want. but hot off the press, it does say the german finance ministry has rejected the new proposal from athens today for an extension of its bailout program, saying it fell short of the creditors -- of the conditions, i'm sorry. it fell short of the conditions set out by greece's eurozone partners. a spokesman says the letter from athens is not a proposal that leads to a substantial solution. so the saga continues despite the news earlier that thought this might put it to bed. let's speak to someone who might know the greece finance minister, mr. yanis varoufakis. stewart, great to have you on the program. i was going to start by saying look, we've been waiting for somebody to blink, and it does

look like the greeks blinked first. but germany, once again, hot off the press, they're going to reject this proposal. >> the problem with german finance minister is that he's both arrogant and ignorant. because it's not up to germany alone to do this. there's a procedure known as enhanced cooperation, whereby some member states can actually support greece without that depending on germany. >> but won't some say, hey, germany senior the pay master of europe. it's the german taxpayer money that's gone in to bailing o out the greeks. that's what some will say. >> this is one of the great mistakes and delusions. it's not german taxpayer money, though chancellor thinks the it is. for example, the recovery of europe which is needed for the whole of europe and not just for greece to which yanis varoufakis has made a growth-related repayment schedule doesn't depend on germany. it can be funded by bonds, the

same kind of bonds that funded the u.s. new deal in the 1930s. and it's not recognized for example that the main body, its brow borrowing does not count on debt. so you have the means to get a recovery. also buying these bonds, and those of its sister institutions recycling global services which are underinvested by sovereign wealth funds and pension funds. not by german taxpayers. >> so it's as simple and clear as what you just explained, why isn't it being done? why is the focus debt debt debt. which means guilt in german. >> it does. it should, yes. and also the mistake in writing a book because that argumented

protestantism gave rise to catholicism. where actually the inverse of debt enabled german to escape from feudalism. >> let's talk to you about or hear your thoughts about mr. varoufakis. he is, indeed a character. he's no fool, of course. i thought i was going to again say to you, until this german announcement came a few minutes ago, i was going to say to you, he must be hating this having to i guess blink first and allow those big institutions back into supervised athens. but what's he like? what's going through his head do you think? >> well i don't think he hates it. he's very very capable. he's nor knowledgeable about what european institutions can do than not only mr. shaudner but many people in brussels. i was at a meeting in december where the senior advisers to donald tusk who is the president of the european

council and to other commissioners, did not know that european investment bank borrowing does not count on national debt. they're underperformed. yanis isn't. he's well-informed. what is very important is that others, such as france where emanuel, who was the economic adviser and is now industry minister has proposed this bond finance recovery for europe and has jean claude and it's important that for example, now, jeanne-claude, should put forward a proposal to the european council on this enhanced cooperation basis, not needing unanimity actually to break the deadlock with germany. >> let's see if they do that. and the is aga continues. stewart, great to talk to you. thank you very much. we appreciate your time. stewart holland joining us there on skype. from pornographytugal. france's national assembly is

expected to hold a confidence vote called by the opposition lawmakers after they had to ram their economic reform bill through parliament. that happened on tuesday. the government is expected to win, and in fact if it does win, it may use the occasion to throw rebel back benches out of the party if they vote against it. of course, the big question is will this bruising battle put the government off any further attempts to reform? hugh schofield has this report from paris. >> reporter: france's national assembly is a buzz. a crucial vote of confidence later today, after the socialist government was forced to push through its new economy law by decree. it's going to be close, but even its opponents can see that the government will probably survive. in the end its left-wing rebels should rally around. >> well, it shows that, of course valls has no more majority and he has a stronger

position inside. but i don't think that those people will go to him, are going to commit suicide. >> reporter: in a last-minute appeal in the chairman prime minister manuel valls and economy minister once again urged the performance of the reforms, but they know that a large chunk of their own party is increasingly willing to defy them. >> what's being fought out here is very future of the holland presidency. will it be able to continue with the campaign of reforms, which it says are so important for the french economy. because if it can't command a majority in parliament. if it remains beholden to the left-wing rebels that's going to make life very difficult, indeed for manuel valls and emanuel microron. >> reporter: the government will survive, but it will be weaker. hugh schofield, bbc news paris. >> we are going to keep across

that vote. one of the uk's best exports is music. despite our small size our talent pool their talent pool would seem vast. listen to this. nearly one in eight albums sold around the world, they're british. and almost 25% of all music consumed in europe last year was, yes, from the uk. now, the uk government wants in on the act and is backing the british musicians to boost their music all over the world. 13 acts have been given grants of up to 30,000 pounds. that's a little more than 36,000 bucks, thank you very much. it's what's called music export growth scheme. it's part of a uk trade and investment to help their careers overseas. well, a little earlier, i spoke to phil patterson, a music consultant for uk trade and investment. he says music adds huge value to the uk economy. >> i think it's about 1.3 billion pounds of export. it's decent numbers and that's from the recorded music side.

if you look like tours with muse who grossed 90 million pounds just touring last year. one direction figures are pretty similar. so the acts when you get the investment and the bpi through their support in this scheme and the music industry generally, you can music the organization as well. everybody is supporting british music because the rest of the world watches what we do and we do it very well but that i have all started to copy what we do and try to catch up and most of the governments around the world, certainly in the western world, are supporting their music industries in a big way, a lot of them have export offices. the french have got nine office around the world. >> some might ask, why is funding needed? because it's such a tough market? >> the way the industry has changed over the last ten years, the record companies themselves there's not as much markup in the sale of recorded music. a lot of it, the development

from grassroots and up is not there as much. so in order to try to continue that development of these artists and keep up with the neighbors across europe and the rest of the world, is we've got to continue to try to do that. and this scheme was presented 18 months ago by the bpi to and on behalf of the industry. and here we are a year into it, and we're starting to see some good results coming through. >> okay, there you go. follow me on twitter. tweet me and i'll tweet you back. you can get me @bbcaaron. and if you've noticed my regular colleague, something new, the glasses! looks very smart. but i do want to say, i have my first prescription glasses myself. didn't know i was going for the harry potter look. but only for close -- my arms weren't long enough for the newspaper, but i can't see that. >> your new look. zbls join the club. aaron within thanks a lot. do stay with us here on

"gmt." still to come we're going to -- let's just show you this rather innate view. this is where president poroshenko of ukraine is expected to deliver a news conference fairly soon. we'll bring that to you as and when. and all coming as we prepare to talk to russia's ambassador to the eu about the situation in ukraine. hey, i notice your car is not in the driveway. yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. you shoulda taken it to midas. they tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. high-five! arg! brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling) hershey's miniatures. we pour 'em! we pass 'em! we pick 'em! delicious fun for everyone. hershey's miniatures are mine, yours, our chocolate. m so glad we could be here for larry.

hello there. i'm david eades. the top stories for you this hour. ukraine east president poroshenko says an agreement has been reached allowing international monitors full access to the conflict areas of eastern ukraine. greece has formally asked the european union for a loan extension following weeks of disagreement over its

international bailout. there are reports, though that germany says a letter from the new greek government is not a substantial proposal for a solution. now, the ukrainian president has said there is an agreement now to allow full access for international monitors into war-torn eastern ukraine. this comes after the fall of a very key town debaltseve despite the cease-fire agreement, fighting continued there for a number of days. dannylo told me year old that russia has been violating the minsk agreement and that attacks on ukraine mean all europeans are under attack and europe's collective goal to find a solution to the crisis. well vladimir is the russian ambassador to the european union. he joins me now from brussels. ambassador, thanks very much for joining us. i just wonder if i could start with this thought that now that

the fighting around debaltseve does seem to have stopped, largely because of the circumstances there -- can you hear me ambassador? can you hear me? i think it's clear at the moment mr. chisholm can't. just as we wait to see if we can get mr. chisholm back let me have a quick flick over for you to live pictures from kiev who we were mentioning. this is really to buy time to be honest but that is where we're expecting president poroshenko to appear at a moment or two. it worked wonders, that little shot, because i think mr. chisholm can hear me now. ambassador, thank you for joining us on the program. can you hear me now? >> yes, i do. >> excellent. thanks very much indeed. i was just mentioning debaltseve and the fighting finished there now. as you know there is a call for mr. poroshenko for u.n. peacekeepers to be allowed to come in and keep the peace. what do you think of that as an

idea? >> well that idea sounds a bit strange, because there was no reference during the minsk negotiations and no reference in the minsk prodigal or the package of measures agreed therein. >> no but i think the point is it's because the cease-fire wasn't working properly. they need perhaps a stronger body to make sure it holds now. >> well ini believe that the monitors mechanism agreed so far would be sufficient provided both sides stick to the cease-fire and the heavy weapons withdrawal procedures. >> do you believe that the situation is right now for that to be the case? that we can actually see a cease-fire hold now? >> actually, i'm less pessimistic than bbc or many

other members of the media, because along most of the line of contact, the cease-fire has been holding. the only exception being debaltseve until yesterday or this morning. >> i suppose a lot of the pessimism -- sorry to interrupt -- >> the debaltseve situation had been -- >> yeah i think a lot of the pessimism you talk about -- >> uh president putin said after the nings agreement was reached, while he was still in minsk, he mentioned that he was concerned with the possible developments over debaltseve. because there was a difference of views between the two con flicking partying on what was the actual situation on the ground. >> okay well let's -- >> -- and how the line of contact was actually going on the ground. whether it was a straight line or it was a twisted line which had left debaltseve on the

government control side. >> right. can i just ask you another point -- >> but i -- can you hear me ambassador? can you hear me? because i need to ask you another question. >> but something that the ukrainian government failed to recognize for several days. now that this hot spot is over then i don't see any problem with maintaining the cease-fire and withdrawing the heavy arms on the basis of the minsk agreement. >> can you hear me ambassador? i think it's clear we can't. we've lost contact with the ambassador. we were able, at least, to hear some of his perspective on the situation in debaltseve. a little bit frustrating for you and me that we couldn't quite get all we wanted to in terms of questions about russia's situation. anyway, that brings us to the end of the "gmt" for today. but what's up in "impact"? >> stay with us. in a few minutes' time we've

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